This is a Titus 2 and 1 Timothy 5:14 Web-Log Teaching Good Things About the Home

Friday, May 06, 2011

Women Sewing

Sunlight and Shadow

by William Kay Blacklock, London and Edinburgh 1872-1922

I love the background scenery in this 19th century painting, which seems so much like scenes I see during trips through the country around here. In the foreground, a woman in a long white garden-party type of dress* in white muslin, with a blue ribbon on the border, sits in a brown wicker chair under an apple tree ﻿with her needle and thread, sewing. The ground is a carpet of mowed, green grass dotted with clusters of white daisies and wildflowers. The ruffled hem of her dress touches the grass, where a gentle little dog lays. An umbrella and a book are propped up to the chair, with apples fallen around them.

A path from where she sits, with trees on both sides, leads to the shore of the little lake in the distance. The woman has black hair and is wearing a white hat with a blue ribbon that is the same shade as the ribbon edging on the skirt of her dress, and she is leaning against a red cushion on the wicker chair. If you will click on the painting, you may be able to get a larger view, and, once you do, there should be a magnifier that allows you to see closer details of this beautiful masterpiece. This is an excellent piece of art for homeschooling. Print it out in a notebook and begin an art-appreciation book.

I am so thankful that these paintings are being made available to this generation. I wonder if the artists knew how much their descendents and others would be blessed by them! This painting is one of the most beautifully illustrated pictures of a woman at leisure that I have ever seen.

It is possible that I will add a small beginner sewing project here, so please check back some time.

* The "garden party dress" pattern can be found at Folkwear patterns and Sensibility.com, as well as Truly Victorian.

A Morning Walk

by William Kay Blacklock﻿

A Quiet Read

by William Kay Blacklock

Summer At Hemmingford Grey

by William Kay Blacklock

Summer 1918 by William Kay Blacklock

Springtime 1918

by William Kay Blacklock

Cotswold Village 1917

by William Kay Blacklock

Note: I will be including some simple beginner sewing photographs in this post when I get time. I will show you how to thread the needle and how to hold the cloth and the needle for best hand sewing results. Notice the hands on the fabric in the painting, "Sunshine and Shadows." ﻿

There is something hauntingly eerie regarding the William Blacklock illustrations dated 1917-1918; In but two or three short years, this world, would be destroyed forever, with the rise of 1920's rebellion and disobedience to the word of God in matters of the home, dress, modest behaviour of both men and women alike and so much more. Rather than the people using their experiences of utter horror and devastation of life bequeathed to them via WW1 to even more fervently re-assert Godly ethics and morality (to try and assure that this would never happen again), holding the warmongers up to a higher light, the hurt and cost to so many nations ran so deeply, they abandoned the pre-WW1 way of life to be lost forever. This dovetailed in with the rise of various humanist, atheist and secularist movements that began in the mid 19th century, but only on the back of the calamity of war and subsequent blow to Christian faith in Europe could they truly take hold. The artist must have been heartbroken to see his beloved world change inexorably in but a few short years.

10% of the entire Australian male population lost their lives during WW1 (and remember, we only had 4.9 million in 1914(. This would be the equivalent of approximately 1 million men killed today (our population is now a little under 22 million). In towns and hamlets all over the country, memorial arches bearing the names of the lost in that terrible conflict can be seen. What devastation this must have wrought on families, on communities, on the fabric of life. And this to be followed with a depression a decade later, and another ghastly world war a decade after that! God have mercy on us all!!

Thank you for this quiet harbour in which we can rest briefly from the lunacy of this present era.

Thank you for all the lovely paintings you post. I enjoy them very much.

On a sewing note, I would so love to sew but was never taught. I have tried sewing, but my machine is inexpensive and acting up and no longer works. I'm trying to make some little pillowcase dresses to send to a mission in Africa, but now I'm stuck. Do you think it would be "acceptable" to try to sew them by hand? I'll likely not have the most professional looking seams, but I feel it might be better for a little girl to have a less then perfectly sewn dress than none at all.

It is very kind of you to describe the details for those that cannot see but they are good points for all of us to consider when viewing the pictures. The way the women dressed enhanced the paintings. The typical fashions of our day would only detract from the entire scene. Imagine a woman in flip flops, tank top and frayed shorts instead of the beautiful dressses -it would ruin the scene!

You pointed out long ago that homemakers should not draw attention to what they "don't" have or "can't afford" if they know they will be met with disapproval. It was some of the best advice I have ever received as a homemaker. That simple observation changed things so much for me. The woman who is doing the hand sewing may want to consider saying (truthfully) that she enjoys hand sewing while she saves up for a new machine rather than pointing out perceived flaws in the finished product.

As for the dresses, she may want to consider sewing the seams of the pillowcase dresses with a careful running stitch, then pinking the seams with pinking shears. Once she is done with the pinking, she can press open the seams carefully. This method is a perfectly acceptable way of handling seams on lightweight garments. I have used this method on cotton nightgown seams and they have held up very well with no fraying. My mother made many baby clothes by hand and I still have some of them. They are beautiful, and the care that would go into a hand sewn dress could mean as much to a little girl as the dress itself. It is also a good idea to pray for the recipient while you sew!

Yes, an artist would have a hard time finding such a subject today. While women can be seen in parks and natural settings today, they are seldom dressed to compliment such beautiful scenery, and in most cases look more like men. Without the contrasts of appearance between male and female, it can't be as inspiring for an artist looking for subjects like these in the 19th century paintings.

I have been trying to gather and read books about the true history of our country and the world in general. This blog also helps to put so many things into perspective for us. The information given by you Lady Lydia and the Australian women who posts on comments and and others are so helpful. I think I understand something but the added information clarifies issues. I thank our Lord for people who care enough to inform us on these subjects. Giving us the true light with in they happened. Sarah

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Welcome

" So far as this world knows or can vision, there is no attainment more desirable than the happy and contented home."

This is a Proverbs 31 and Titus 2 teaching blog, where you will find some ideas for creating the kind of home life that gives you a sense of well-being, creativity and accomplishment. It will help you understand the reasons for being the Biblical keepers of the home, as opposed to the world's answer of being career women outside of the home.

I really hope to help restore the culture of the home, which is a never-changing precept of the Bible: marriage, home and family. Young women especially need to know there is something else of greater importance than college and career, and that they play a vital role in making a stable family. In order to have strong marriages, respectful children, and good churches, women need to return to the home. My blog is based on the precept of First Timothy 5, verse 14:

"I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully..."

These articles are designed to give the homemaker ideas for doing an excellent job in the home and for enjoying the role of homemaker and guide of the house. Marriage, the family and home life is splintered. Women must be allowed to return to the home.

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You are welcome to print out articles and photographs for your homemaking notebook. You can link to any articles I've written or put them on your site if you will contact me. Please do not put photographs of my family or me on any blogs or on the internet anywhere without my permission.

Historical

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The Queen's Ire

England's Queen Victoria wrote in 1870, "I am most anxious to enlist everyone who can speak or write to join in checking this mad, wicked folly of 'Women's Rights', with all its attendant horrors, on which her poor feeble sex is bent, forgetting every sense of womanly feelings and propriety. Feminists ought to get a good whipping. Were woman to 'unsex' themselves by claiming equality with men, they would become the most hateful, heathen and disgusting of beings, and would surely perish without male protection."-- Queen Victoria, 1870.

Don't Forget

Don't above all things, forget you are a woman; she is far more attractive when seen in the flowing draperies that centuries of use have made their own, than when masquerading as a man."--author unknown, written approximately 1850.

Home

"Why do women want to dress like men when they’re fortunate enough to be women? Why lose femininity, which is one of our greatest charms? We get more accomplished by being charming than we would be flaunting around in pants and smoking. I’m very fond of men. I think they are wonderful creatures. I love them dearly. But I don’t want to look like one. When women gave up their long skirts, they made a grave error…" ~Tasha Tudor

There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort. ~Jane Austen

Home ought to be our clearinghouse, the place from which we go forth lessoned and disciplined, and ready for life. ~Kathleen Norris